Hans Holbein the Younger was one of the most celebrated portraitists of the sixteenth century. At an early age he won commissions to paint portraits of prominent merchants in Basel, and in later years he attracted powerful patrons in England, including Sir Thomas More. Holbein made several portraits of the great humanist and scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466/1469 - 1536), whose letters of introduction in London led the young artist to many well-placed clients. The Lehman portrait of Erasmus, painted with sensitivity and refinement, was evidently modeled on a life study. Holbein has captured the graying, lined face of the aging scholar, whose quiet erudition is also deftly communicated.